Downtown Topeka boutique Cyrus Resort now bundled in Marriott International’s Tribute Portfolio
Topeka’s initial boutique resort is getting to be a member of the Marriott model.
Cyrus Resort, at 920 S. Kansas Ave. in downtown Topeka, will before long be involved in Marriott’s Tribute Portfolio, a collection of about 55 homes across the globe that continue being independent boutique accommodations but choose gain of the intercontinental hospitality company’s branding and network.
That news was introduced Friday by Purpose Strategies, the Topeka-based mostly expenditure team that owns the Cyrus, and Coury Hospitality, the hotel’s new administration company that has a regional business in Kansas City, Mo. According to a information launch, the Cyrus will officially be part of Marriott’s Tribute Portfolio in April.
According to Cody Foster, founder of Intention Procedures, the possession construction of Cyrus will not likely change.
“It truly is all us area traders that nonetheless have it,” he said. “So it can be just as an alternative of currently being a absolutely unbiased, no flags hotel, we will appear beneath Marriott’s flag with their Tribute series. … The identify will stay the very same. Nothing at all adjustments from that standpoint.”
Foster explained one particular of the big perks of getting component of the Marriott model is that the Cyrus will now get to leverage the firm’s hospitality abilities, like getting gain of Marriott’s reservation technique, dynamic pricing product and world promoting.
It will also allow for associates of Marriott’s loyalty method to leverage their benefits points at the Cyrus, which Foster expects will outcome in additional enterprise tourists being in downtown Topeka. And that is a demographic, he included, that the Cyrus has struggled to appeal to.
“I consider it will be a big deal likely ahead,” Foster said. “A great deal of individuals, myself incorporated and a whole lot of buddies I know, if they are heading to a city and they are a huge Marriott factors person, which is what they glimpse for.”
In accordance to Foster, the decision to sign up for the Marriott circle has been a although in the generating. It is a little something Cyrus’ house owners regarded right before COVID-19, he reported, but the pandemic slowed items down.
Foster explained he was evaluating notes with the proprietor of the Ambassador Hotel in Kansas City in late 2019. That hotel also started as an independent boutique hotel, he stated, but the owner sooner or later turned confident that migrating to Marriott was the way to go.
“He variety of walked me through the figures of just how substantially it had increased (small business),” Foster said. “He was like, ‘I imagined it would choose a when, but the day we improved, our occupancy went up 20%. And our place amount went up 25%.’ He was like, ‘We have been getting more people today, and they have been shelling out a increased price tag.’ …
“It has just cemented for us that this is the clever transfer to make.”
He added that he hopes the Cyrus stays at the top rated of the regional market place but continues to be a great price for people today. Cyrus Hotel, named after Topeka co-founder Cyrus K. Holliday, 1st opened in January 2019, and parts of Topeka’s background can be spotted in the course of the eight-story constructing.
To turn into a portion of the Marriott model, Cyrus administration is building some small adjustments in get to adhere to the firm’s benchmarks, this sort of as putting specific signage in the hotel’s hallways and improving the lighting in some loos. Foster claimed they are also performing to make a more grand hotel entrance.
“The authentic large lift is heading to be the units — the technology transfer in excess of and reservation units,” he claimed. “We’re utilizing Marriott’s program now alternatively of what we experienced mounted.”
Yet another change previously in influence that was linked to the shift to Marriott is the Cyrus’ new administration, Coury Hospitality, which operates a lot more than 25 accommodations and restaurants across 8 different markets. Most of those lodges are related with Marriott’s “tender makes,” this kind of as the Tribute series.
“By range of soft brand names with Marriott, we’re the premier operator,” explained Paul Coury, proprietor of Coury Hospitality. “In just that, of our resorts that are open up, we have 3 that are in the prime 10 rated of all 200 Autograph (Selection Hotels, another of Marriott’s delicate brand names), and one particular of them has been rated No. 1 for a few decades.”
Foster claimed Coury Hospitality’s presence in the Kansas Metropolis place and the company’s previous working experience operating with Marriott were massive attracts.
“They have these types of a deep working experience amount with Marriott that we considered it created a large amount of feeling,” Foster mentioned.
Coury Hospitality will also oversee The Climate Area, the Cyrus Hotel’s restaurant and bar, as it expands its several hours and receives again to entire ability.
All through the pandemic, The Climate Space reduced its hrs, serving meal only four nights a 7 days. But there are programs to start out serving supper again 7 nights a week, and there may be a few new entrées appearing shortly on the menu.
“Meals and beverage is a major, large section of staying productive with these types of homes,” Coury reported. “Over the following yr, we’ll be launching some initiatives to assistance make it even much better.”
In accordance to Foster, he and his fellow traders probably would not be producing this transform at the Cyrus unless they had been self-assured momentum was beginning to return to downtown Topeka.
Although the previous yr has been hard for Cyrus Lodge, The Pennant and Iron Rail Brewing — all of which are positioned downtown and owned by Goal Procedures — Foster explained small business has started to return these last few weeks, and he expects that to continue on with Kansas legislators back in town for the 2021 legislative session.
“After matters return to ordinary, I think there is certainly likely to be these kinds of major pent-up demand from customers of persons seeking to get back out and join with people today in person,” he said. “As all of this comes back again on the internet, ideally we can make that momentum back rapidly. … Each and every 7 days has gotten far better.”
